Coordinates: 50°59′45″N 0°32′22″E / 50.99587°N 0.53948°E / 50.99587; 0.53948

Bodiam railway station

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Bodiam
Station on heritage railway
General information
LocationBodiam, Rother, East Sussex
England
Coordinates50°59′45″N 0°32′22″E / 50.99587°N 0.53948°E / 50.99587; 0.53948
Grid referenceTQ783249
Platforms1
History
Original companyRother Valley Railway
Pre-groupingKent and East Sussex Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Region of British Railways
Key dates
2 April 1900Opened
4 January 1954Closed regular passenger service
12 June 1961closed completely
2 April 2000Reopened

Bodiam railway station is a heritage railway station on the Kent and East Sussex Railway in Bodiam, East Sussex.

History

Situated half a mile from Bodiam village itself and its fourteenth century castle, the station opened in 1900 in a rather remote and rural location. It was surrounded by hop Gardens, mainly owned by Guinness, and helped to serve the industry in the area, bringing hop-pickers to and from the fields and transporting hops to the breweries.[1] In 1910, a siding was added which effectively acted as a loop allowing freight trains to pass passenger trains.[2] The station was known as "Bodiam for Staplecross".

View eastwards in 1962

In keeping with other stations on the line, the main station building was fitted out in typical spartan style. Only Gents toilet facilities were available and the urinal was flushed using water gathered in the building's rainwater pipe.[2]

Dwindling passenger numbers and increased competition from road hauliers saw the line close to regular passenger services in 1954 but freight and occasional special passenger trains used the line until 1961. It was subsequently rescued in 1971 by the Tenterden Railway Company (now the Kent and East Sussex Railway) who purchased the line between Tenterden and Bodiam for £60,000.[2] Its extension to Bodiam was completed in 2000 and the station now marks the line's southern terminus.[3]

The Cavell Van, the railway van that conveyed Edith Cavell's remains from Dover to London is kept as a memorial and is usually open to view at Bodiam railway station. The van also carried the bodies of Charles Fryatt and The Unknown Warrior.

Also The Train Now Standing was filmed there.

Bodiam Station looking East 2008 at 5:30am
A 1914 Railway Clearing House map of the KESR and mainline to the west of Bodiam railway station.

Services

Bodiam's Station Master, 2005
Preceding station Heritage Railways  Heritage railways Following station
Northiam   Kent and East Sussex Railway   Terminus
Disused railways
Dixter Halt   Kent and East Sussex Railway   Terminus
Northiam   British Railways
Southern Region
Kent and East Sussex Railway 		  Junction Road Halt

References

  1. ^ Kent and East Sussex Railway, "Bodiam" Archived 2 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1988). Branch Line to Tenterden. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-0-906520-21-5.
  3. ^ Kent and East Sussex Railway, "History" Archived 15 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine


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